Pages

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Media Corporation Cheat Sheet

Who Owns the Media?

Currently, over 90% of all media is owned by six different companies. These companies are known as the "Big Six," and have merged to create an oligarchy on the United States' information flow. In order for this blog to function, one must be able to recognize who the big corporations are and what media sources lie under their domain. For the sake of this blog, this post will highlight companies that operate mostly in the United States.

It's important to note that News Corporation was split up in 2013 to create two separate companies, News Corp and 21st Century Fox. The two companies are now considered parent organizations of each other.
Also, although Viacom took control of CBS in 1971, as of 2005 the two companies have split from each other. Both Viacom and CBS are controlled by Sumner Redstone through her company called National Amusements.

It's also important to note that this is not a complete list of what these companies are in control of; this blog post should be used as a general reference to determine what major company controls different news outlets.

These Are the Companies That Control Our Media

These seven companies control over 90% of all American media. What's even more shocking is that Viacom and CBS are both controlled by one person, Sumner Redstone, and 21st Century Fox and News Corp are both controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Comcast, as opposed to being controlled by only one person, is primarily dominated by the Robert's Family.

Since radio is one of the most powerful news media sources, the company iHeartMedia deserves an honorable mention, since it has dominated the radio by owning over 850 radio stations in the fifty states reaching over 110 million listeners daily.
Another honorable mention should go to Arthur Ochs Sulzeberger Jr. who owns The New York Times Company, which reaches millions of readers daily as well.

Over 90% of the media is owned by three families and a handful of shareholders.